{"id":775744,"date":"2026-05-05T21:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/775744\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T21:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:12:24","slug":"the-rundown-chicago-queer-focused-spaces-flourish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/775744\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rundown: Chicago queer-focused spaces flourish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon! It\u2019s Tuesday, and we may be able to see the peak of a meteor shower<\/a> tonight (if the clouds cooperate). Here\u2019s what else you need to know today.<\/p>\n

1. Meet the couple building a mini-empire of queer-focused spaces. Now open: Fathom<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Whitney LaMora and Zoe Schor, known for the subterranean lesbian cocktail lounge Dorothy Downstairs in West Town, are building the city\u2019s first lesbian-owned hospitality group solely focused on queer gathering places. Their ambitions stretch beyond Chicago, WBEZ food contributor Maggie Hennessy reports.<\/p>\n

Between real estate negotiations, fundraising, buildouts, hiring and permitting, it took more than two years for LaMora and Schor to open Fathom from their first glimpse of 1622 West Belmont Ave. The couple\u2019s business venture, Friend of Dorothy Bars, is backed by 30 mostly local investors who\u2019ve bought into the vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really showing that the queer community wants and deserves these beautiful spaces,\u201d LaMora said. \u201cHopefully that is also translating to more investors taking what we\u2019re doing and our vision seriously. Because that\u2019s what holds so many women, queer people, people of color and trans people back. They don\u2019t always have the resources or investment behind them, nor can they get it from banking institutions. I really do feel like that\u2019s changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fathom arrives when prominently queer spaces are blossoming in the city. Tryst Hospitality is developing a luxury boutique LGBTQ+ hotel called Tryst in the Northalsted neighborhood. The sober, queer social club Everywhere is coming to Uptown this summer, according to reporting from Block Club Chicago. And the former home of beloved queer nightclub Berlin is transforming into a craft cocktail bar called The Belmont and a late-night dance club called Decibel. [WBEZ<\/a>]<\/p>\n

2. Illinois is touting its high vaccination rates among school kids, despite federal efforts to limit them<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Illinois maintained a nearly 97% vaccination rate against the measles among school-aged children, according to new data from public health officials.<\/p>\n

As my colleague Elvia Malag\u00f3n reports for the Chicago Sun-Times, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the number of recommended vaccines, but Illinois health officials were determined not to change local guidance.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sameer Vohra, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said nearly all the vaccines met the state\u2019s goal of having at least 95% coverage rate. Last month, Vohra told the Sun-Times that Gov. JB Pritzker and the state\u2019s advisory immunization committee were ensuring residents had transparent and science-based information about vaccines as federal changes started to unfold.<\/p>\n

The state did experience a slight slip in the number of school children vaccinated against hepatitis B after federal health officials stopped recommending the vaccine for newborns in 2025, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health; the rate decreased to 97.2% this year from 97.3% last school year.<\/p>\n

State data also shows there has been an increase in the number of vaccine exemptions due to religious reasons. There were 17,460 for this school year compared to 2,425 a decade ago, according to state data. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

3. Mayor Johnson is determined to block the Bears\u2019 move to Arlington Heights<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Mayor Brandon Johnson today mounted the legislative equivalent of a goal line stand against the Chicago Bears\u2019 quest for the property tax break needed to pave the way for a domed stadium in Arlington Heights, my colleague Fran Spielman writes.<\/p>\n

Johnson questioned why any lawmaker from Chicago would even think about providing a massive tax break for a professional sports team valued at nearly $9 billion while ignoring the need for what the mayor calls progressive revenue to increase school funding and help working people struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

Hours before joining fellow Chicago-area mayors in Springfield, where he has had little success, Johnson made it clear he would use whatever political muscle he has to block the so-called megaprojects bill now before the Illinois Senate after it cleared the Illinois House last month. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

An analysis by Pritzker\u2019s office found \u201cnegligible\u201d property tax benefits for homeowners in the stadium bill passed by the Illinois House. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

4. University of Chicago Press workers formed a union<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The goal of UCP Workers Guild is to push for fair wages, better work conditions and protections from artificial intelligence, Amy Yee reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe university\u2019s financial crisis has tightened spending in several of the press\u2019s departments, slowed hiring and created a sense of uncertainty about the future for many UCP workers,\u201d Adrienne Meyers, senior promotions manager at the press and a UCP Workers Guild member, said in an emailed statement. \u201cAs of right now, the press has not experienced any layoffs due to the budget, and we hope our union will help protect and secure the stability of our workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The press was founded in 1890 as one of the three main divisions of the University of Chicago. It\u2019s one of the country\u2019s oldest and largest university presses and has published titles such as \u201cThe Chicago Manual of Style\u201d and \u201cA River Runs Through It\u201d by Norman Maclean. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

5. Chicago\u2019s most fashionable gathered for a local Met Gala. Some wore high art, while one channeled a \u2018couch potato\u2019<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

All the elements came correct for the fifth annual Chicago Does the Met Gala thrown by The Chicago Fashion Coalition in a Streeterville event venue and timed to coincide with the Jeff Bezos and Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos-fronted fashion gala in New York.<\/p>\n

While the Bezos connection dominated headlines in the days running up to the Met Gala\u2019s 78th year, themed \u201cFashion is Art,\u201d Chicago offered its own twist on the theme. Here, the assignment was to choose an artwork by a Chicagoan and translate it into the look for the night: \u201cformal to conceptual, playful to profound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without access to multimillion-dollar fashion archives like so many celebrities, guests chose to dig into their creativity. You can see photos of their outfits in the link. [WBEZ<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what else is happening<\/b><\/p>\n